Fox Sports thinks soccer is the future in America or, at the very least, a developing market.
The network, which broadcast all 146 Champions League games to American audiences for the first time last year and showed the final on Fox, extended its agreement through 2015.
“In 2009, Fox made an unprecedented commitment to bring the UEFA Champions League to the widest possible U.S. audience, and with this renewal agreement we have raised the amount of coverage to even greater heights,” David Nathanson, general manager of Fox Soccer said in a release. “We are elated to continue our partnership with UEFA and serve as the home of their flagship property through at least 2015.”
UEFA, the tournament’s organizing body, sounds pleased with the new deal.
“Showing the final on Fox’s over-the-air affiliates marks a huge turning point in the American psyche towards football, continuing in this vein for the 2012-15 rights cycle reflects Fox’s ongoing dedication to the best of European football,” Guy Laurent Epstein, head of media rights for UEFA said.